Closure latch

ABSTRACT

A detent and detent release lever of a door lock are coaxially pivoted and provided with spaced opposed edge portions. A pin of an intermittent member supported on a locking lever is movable between the opposed edge portions to couple the levers or is movable out of engagement with one edge portion to uncouple the levers when the locking lever is respectively moved between unlocked and locked positions. The detent release lever is coupled to inside and outside operating means to release the detent when the levers are coupled. If the levers are uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt is in unlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt moves to latched position to thereby provide a set and slam feature.

United States Patent 172] Inventor Bela Sandor Primary Examiner-MarvinA. Champion Detroit, Mich. Assistant Examiner ----Rbert L Wolfe [211App! No. 840,400 A1mrneysW. E, Finken and Herbert Furman [22] Filed July9, I969 [45] Patented July 6, I971 [73] Asslgnee General Motors(.orporatw ABSTRACT: A detent and detent release lever of a door lockDamn are coaxially pivoted and provided with spaced opposed edgeportions. A pin of an intermittent -member supported on a [54] CLOSURELATCH lockingllever Iis movable betwebtlen the opposed edge portions 4Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. to coup e the evers or mova e out o engagementwit one edge portion to uncouple the levers when the locking lever ISU-Sa Cl... respectively moved beween unlocked a d locked positions "0'E056 The detent release lever is coupled to inside and outside [5 FlfldSearch 292/216 operating means to release the detent when the levers arecou- 336-3, 210 pled. lfthe levers are uncoupled when the bolt is inunlatched position, they will remain uncoupled when the bolt is in un-[561 References cued latched position, they will remain uncoupled whenthe bolt- UNITED STATES PATENTS movesto latched position to therebyprovide a set and slam 2,658,781 ll/l953 Allen 292/216 feature.

73 I ii i 66 "11: 6U

i l L i E t ,16 i? '3; v 66' PATENTEU JUL 6 I97! SHEET 1 BF 2 w 0 8 6lll====il WW w n w 9m m a d 0 PATENIED JUL 6 '97:

SHEET 2 0F 2 CLOSURE LATCH This invention relates to closure latches andmore particularly to vehicle body door locks of the set and slam type.

Set and slam type vehicle body door locks can be placed in a lockedcondition when the door is in open position and will remain in thiscondition when the door is thereafter closed.

The lock of this invention, in its preferred embodiment, includescoaxial detent and detent release levers which are selectively coupledand uncoupled by an abutment member which is either positioned betweenand in engagement with opposed edge portions of the levers or positionedout of engagement with one of the edge portions depending on theposition of a locking means controllable from both inside and outsidethe body. If the levers are uncoupled when the door is in an openposition and the door is thereafter closed, the levers remain uncoupledto thereby provide the set and slam feature.

Therefore, a primary feature of this invention is that it provides avehicle body door lock wherein the detent means and the release meansfor the detent are selectively coupled and uncoupled by coupling meanswhich are movable with respect to opposed abutment portions of therelease means and detent means.

The detent release lever, in the preferred embodiment, additionallyincludes an extension which is located juxtaposed to an extension of thebolt when the bolt is in latched position so that any movement of thedetent with respect to the bolt will not release the bolt due to theengagement of the release lever extension and bolt extension.

Therefore, another feature of this invention is that it provides avehicle body door lock wherein selectively coupled detent and detentrelease levers also additionally function as primary and secondarydetents.

These and other features of the door lock of this invention will bereadily apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevational view of a vehicle body having adoor mounted thereon for movement between open and closed positions andheld in closed position by a door lock according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken generally along the plane indicated byline 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the bolt in latched position and thedetent lever and detent release lever in coupled position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the bolt in unlatchedposition and the detent lever and detent release lever in uncoupledposition;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken generally along the plane indicated byline 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated byline 55 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body designatedgenerally includes a front door 12 swingably mounted on the bodyadjacent its forward edge 14 for movement between a closed position asshown and an open position, not shown. Door 12 is held in closedposition by a door lock 16 according to this invention.

As best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the lock 16 includes a main frame orsupport plate 18 which abuts against the rear or lock pillar wall, notshown, of door 12 and is bolted thereto by a number of bolts extendingthrough this wall into a series of tapped embossments 20 of the frame18. A fork-type bolt 22 is pivoted at 24 to the frame 18 for movementbetween a locked position shown in FIG. 2 and an unlocked position shownin FIG. 3. As will be described, the throat of the bolt receives theshank of a headed striker pin when the door 12 is in closed position,with this striker pin being mounted on the forward or lock pillar wallof the rear quarter portion 26 of the body 10. The frame 18 is cut awayat 28 and the rear wall of door 12 is similarly cut away to provide forentrance of the striker pin into the lock 16.

A detent lever 32 and a detent release lever 34 are coaxially pivoted at36 to the frame 18. The detent lever 32 includes a foot 38 which engagesa shoulder 40 of the bolt 22 when the bolt is in latched position tomaintain the bolt in this position. The detent release lever 34 includesan arm or extension hav ing a lateral tab or foot 42 which is laterallyjuxtaposed to another shoulder 44 of bolt 22 for engagement thereby toprovide a secondary detent should the detent lever 32 move out ofengagement with the shoulder 40 for any reason when the bolt is inlatched position. A tension spring 46 interconnects a notched lateraltab of an arm 48 of the detent lever 32 and a notched lateral tab ofbolt 22 to continually bias the bolt in a clockwise direction tounlatched position and bias the lever 32 in a counterclockwise directiontoward detented position. When the bolt moves to unlatched position,shown in FIG. 3, under the action of spring 46, a shoulder 52 of thebolt engages a lanced lateral tab 54 of the frame 18 to locate the boltagainst the action of spring 46.

A tension spring 56 interconnects an apertured arm or extension of therelease lever 34 and a notched lateral tab 58 of frame 18 to continuallybias the lever 34 counterclockwise of the pivot 36. A rod 59 pivotallyinterconnects the release lever 34 and the outside operating lever 60.Lever 60 is pivoted at 62 to an embossment of a bracket 64 which isriveted at 66 to an extension 68 of the frame 18. A lateral tab 70 ofthe bracket 64 is engaged by the lever 60 to locate this lever and inturn locate the lever 34 against the biasing action of the spring 56.

The extension 68 may be of any length and may be provided with a numberof successive series of openings to receive the rivets 66 so that onebasic lock may satisfy a number of body styles by merely changing theposition of the bracket 64 along the extension 68 of the frame 18 and inturn, of course, using different lengths of rods 59.

The outside operating lever 60 includes a lateral flange 72 which isengageable by the push rod 74, FIG. 2, of a conventional outsidepushbutton assembly 76 incorporated in a conventional handle 78 mountedon the outer panel of door 12.

A locking lever 80 is pivoted at 82 to the frame 18 and anovercenter-type coil spring 84 interconnects the frame and the lockinglever for selectively and alternately biasing the locking lever to anunlocked position, as shown in FIG. 2, or a locked position, shown inFIG. 3. Lanced lateral tabs 86 and 88 of frame 18 are engageable withthe lower and upper sides of the locking lever in the unlocked andlocked positions thereof, respectively, to locate the lever in eachposition under the action of the spring 84. The locking lever 80 isconventionally moved between its locked and unlocked positions by eitheran inside garnish button 90 or an outside key cylinder assembly 92,respectively, connected to the right-hand and left-hand ends of thelever in a conventional manner.

An intermittent member or lever 94 is pivoted at 96 to the locking leverand a coil tension spring 98 interconnects notched lateral tabs of theintermittent member and of the locking lever to continually bias themember 94 clockwise of the pivot 96. The lower end of the member 94includes a laterally extending stud or abutment 100 which is engaged ondiametrically opposite sidesthereof by edges or abutment portions 102and 104 of the detent release lever 34 and detent lever 32,respectively, when the locking lever 80 is in unlocked position, asshown in FIG. 2, to couple these levers for unitary or simultaneousclockwise movement. When the locking lever moves from unlocked positionto locked position, shown in FIG. 3, the clockwise movement of thelocking lever shifts the member 94 upwardly and in turn shifts abutment100 upwardly so that it moves out of engagement with edge 104 butremains in engagement with edge 102 under the action of the spring 98.This uncouples the levers 32 and 34.

The frame 18 includes a lateral extension 106 and a bellcrank insiderelease lever 108 is pivoted at 110 to this extension. As best shown inFIG. 4, one leg 112 of the lever overlies an extension 114 of therelease lever 34 so that upon counterclockwise movement of the leg 112the lever 34 will be swung clockwise of the pivot 36, FIG. 2, and inturn move the detent 32 in this same direction to release the bolt 22 ifthe levers 32 and 34 are coupled. A conventional rod 116, FIG. 1,connects the other leg of lever 108 and an inside release or remotehandle 118 to provide for manual operation of the lock 16 from insidethe body.

A rubber bumper 120 is mounted on the frame 18 and extension 106 attheir juncture as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This bumper is adapted to beengaged by a flanged foot 122 of a shoe 124 which is pivoted at 126 tothe frame 18 to limit the clockwise swinging movement of the shoe. Theshank 128 ofa headed striker pin is received within the throat of bolt22 when the bolt is in latched position, as shown in FIG. 2, to holddoor 12 in closed position. The striker pin is conventional and isconventionally mounted on the lock pillar wall of the rear quarterportion 26 of the body. The head 130 of the pin engages a flange 132 ofthe shoe 124 when the shank of the striker pin is received within thethroat of the bolt 22, as shown in FIG. 2, to thereby limit relativevertical movement between the door 12 and the portion 26 of the body.Additionally the engagement of the head 130 with the flange 132 of theshoe, of course, forces the shank 128 tightly into engagement with thebase of the bolt throat.

It is believed clear from the foregoing description that when theintermittent member 94 is in its position shown in FIG. 2, movement ofthe pushbutton assembly 76 or of the remote handle 118 will swing thelever 34 clockwise of the pivot 36 and the engagement of the abutment100 with edges I02 and 104 will simultaneously swing the detent lever 32in this same direction to move the foot 38 out of engagement with theshoulder 40 and release the bolt for movement to unlatched position. Inthis position of the bolt, the detent lever 32 engages the shoulder 44of the bolt so as to be located against the action of spring 46 and thelever 34 is, of course, located by the engagement of lever 60 with tab70 when the pushbutton assembly 76 is released.

When the door 12 is in an open position and either the garnish button 90or key cylinder 92 is operated to move the locking lever 80 from itsunlocked position of FIG. 2 to its locked position of FIG. 3, theintermittent member 94 will be shifted upwardly as the abutment 100rides along the edge 102 of the lever 34. It will be noted that theabutment 100 is now located above and out of the path of movement of theedge 104 of the detent 32. If the door is thereafter closed, the counterclockwise movement of the bolt 22 will intermittently ratchet thedetent lever 32 clockwise of the pivot 36. While the edge 134 of arm 48might swing the intermittent member 94 slightly counterclockwise byengagement with the abutment 100 during ratcheting of the detent lever32, the spring 88 will immediately return the intermittent member to itsposition shown in FIG. 3 in engagement with edge 102. When the detentfoot 38 finally engages the shoulder 40, any movement thereafter of thelever 34 will, of course, have no effect on the detent lever so that thelock will remain in locked condition.

It will be noted that the spring 88 at all times maintains the abutment100 in engagement with the edge 102 so that this edge provides a guidefor vertical shifting movement of the intermittent member 94! when thelocking lever 80 is moved between its locked and unlocked positions.

Thus, this invention provides an improved vehicle body door lock of theset and slam type.

I claim:

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movablebetween latched and unlatched positions, detent means movable betweendetented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means,detent release means, the detent means and the detent release means eachincluding an elongated abutment portion, the abutment portions beingspaced from and opposed to each other, one being of greater extent thanthe other, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positionsand including coupling means movable along the one abutment portion intoand out of opposition to the other abutment portion to selectivelycouple and uncouple the detent means and the detent release means, thelocking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling means on theone abutment portion in opposition to the other abutment portion tocouple the opposed abutment portions for unitary movement of the detentmeans with the detent release means, the locking means in lockedposition positioning the coupling means on the one abutment portion outof opposition to the other abutment portion to uncouple the detent meansand the detent release means.

2. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movablebetween latched and unlatched positions, detent means movable betweendetented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means,detent release means, the detent means and the detent release means eachincluding an elongated abutment portion, the abutment portions beingspaced from and opposed to each other, one being of greater extent thanthe other, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positions,coupling means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the detent meansand the detent release means, means mounting the coupling means on thelocking means for movement thereby along the one abutment portion, meansbiasing the coupling means into engagement with the one abutmentportion, the locking means in unlocked position positioning the couplingmeans between the opposed abutment portions to couple the opposedabutment portions for unitary movement of the detent means with thedetent release means, the locking means in unlocked position positioningthe coupling means on the one abutment portion out of opposition to theother abutment portion to uncouple the detent means and the detentrelease means.

3. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movablebetween latched and unlatched positions, a detent lever swingablebetween detented and undetented positions with respect to the latchmeans, a swingable detent release lever, means operatively connectingthe detent release lever to a release means, locking means movablebetween locked and unlocked positions, a coupling member swingablysupported on the locking means for selectively coupling and uncouplingthe detent lever and the detent release lever, the detent lever and thedetent release lever each including an elongated edge portion, each edgeportion being opposed to the other and the release lever edge portionbeing of greater extent, means biasing the coupling member intoengagement with the release lever edge portion, the locking means inunlocked position locating the coupling member on the release lever edgeportion in opposition to the detent lever edge portion to couple thedetent lever to the detent release lever for unitary movement, thelocking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling member onthe release lever edge portion out of opposition to the detent leveredge portion to uncouple the detent lever and the detent release lever.

4. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movablebetween latched and unlatched positions, a detent lever swingablebetween detented and undetented positions with respect to the latchmeans, a detent release lever coaxial with the detent lever, meansoperatively connecting the detent release lever to a release means, alocking lever movable between locked and unlocked positions, a couplinglever swingable on the locking lever and including an abutment forselectively coupling and uncoupling the detent lever and the detentrelease lever, the detent lever and the detent release lever eachincluding an elongated edge portion, each edge portion being opposed tothe other and the release lever edge portion being of greater extent,resilient means holding the coupling lever abutment in engagement withthe release lever edge portion, the locking lever in unlocked positionlocating the coupling lever abutment on the release lever edge portionin opposition to the detent lever edge portion to couple the levers forunitary movement, the locking lever in unlocked position locating thecoupling lever abutment on the release lever edge portion out ofopposition to the detent lever edge portion to uncouple the detent leverand the detent release lever.

"H050 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 9 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PatentNo. 3, 591, 220 Dated July 6, 197].

Inventor(s) Bela Sandor It is certified that error appears in theabove-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

In the Abstract, lines 11 and 12, the clause "they will remain uncoupledwhen the bolt is in unlatched position, should be deleted.

Column 2, line 12, the numeral "50" should be inserted after "tab".

Signed and sealed this 21 st day of December 1 971 (SEAL) Atte st:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Atte sting Officer ActingCommissioner of Patents

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latch means movablebetween latched and unlatched positions, detent means movable betweendetented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means,detent release means, the detent means and the detent release means eachincluding an elongated abutment portion, the abutment portions beingspaced from and opposed to each other, one being of greater extent thanthe other, locking means movable between locked and unlocked positionsand including coupling means movable along the one abutment portion intoand out of opposition to the other abutment portion to selectivelycouple and uncouple the detent means and the detent release means, thelocking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling means on theone abutment portion in opposition to the other abutment portion tocouple the opposed abutment portions for unitary movement of the detentmeans with the detent release means, the locking means in lockedposition positioning the coupling means on the one abutment portion outof opposition to the other abutment portion to uncouple the detent meansand the detent release means.
 2. A closure latch comprising, incombination, latch means movable between latched and unlatchedpositions, detent means movable between detented and undetentedpositions with respect to the latch means, detent release means, thedetent means and the detent release means each including an elongatedabutment portion, the abutment portions being spaced from and opposed toeach other, one being of greater extent than the other, locking meansmovable between locked and unlocked positions, coupling means forselectively coupling and uncoupling the detent means and the detentrelease means, means mounting the coupling means on the locking meansfor movement thereby along the one abutment portion, means biasing thecoupling means into engagement with the one abutment portion, thelocking means in unlocked position positioning the coupling meansbetween the opposed abutment portions to couple the opposed abutmentportions for unitary movement of the detent means with the detentrelease means, the locking means in unlocked position positioning thecoupling means on the one abutment portion out of opposition to theother abutment portion to uncouple the detent means and the detentrelease means.
 3. A closure latch comprising, in combination, latchmeans movable between latched and unlatched positions, a detent leverswingable between detented and undetented positions with respect to thelatch means, a swingable detent release lever, means operativelyconnecting the detent release lever to a release means, locking meansmovable between locked and unlocked positions, a coupling memberswingably supported on the locking means for selectively coupling anduncoupling the detent lever and the detent release lever, the detentlever and the detent release lever each including an elongated edgeportion, each edge portion being opposed to the other and the releaselever edge portion being of greatEr extent, means biasing the couplingmember into engagement with the release lever edge portion, the lockingmeans in unlocked position locating the coupling member on the releaselever edge portion in opposition to the detent lever edge portion tocouple the detent lever to the detent release lever for unitarymovement, the locking means in unlocked position positioning thecoupling member on the release lever edge portion out of opposition tothe detent lever edge portion to uncouple the detent lever and thedetent release lever.
 4. A closure latch comprising, in combination,latch means movable between latched and unlatched positions, a detentlever swingable between detented and undetented positions with respectto the latch means, a detent release lever coaxial with the detentlever, means operatively connecting the detent release lever to arelease means, a locking lever movable between locked and unlockedpositions, a coupling lever swingable on the locking lever and includingan abutment for selectively coupling and uncoupling the detent lever andthe detent release lever, the detent lever and the detent release levereach including an elongated edge portion, each edge portion beingopposed to the other and the release lever edge portion being of greaterextent, resilient means holding the coupling lever abutment inengagement with the release lever edge portion, the locking lever inunlocked position locating the coupling lever abutment on the releaselever edge portion in opposition to the detent lever edge portion tocouple the levers for unitary movement, the locking lever in unlockedposition locating the coupling lever abutment on the release lever edgeportion out of opposition to the detent lever edge portion to uncouplethe detent lever and the detent release lever.